


what hides us better: a full face mask, or a little willful ignorance?

by youngerdrgrey



Category: Black Lightning (TV)
Genre: Gen, Season 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-06 00:40:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13399752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngerdrgrey/pseuds/youngerdrgrey
Summary: Anissa and Jennifer, prior to knocking out at the end of the pilot. Jennifer's got some thoughts on their savior./ probably not even compliant to anything, but I wondered what they could’ve talked about after going through all of this.





	what hides us better: a full face mask, or a little willful ignorance?

**Author's Note:**

> _Black Lightning_ already has a part of my heart from the pilot episode alone. Here's hoping they only grow from here.

.

"Get your feet out of my face.”

“They’re not  _in_  your face, Harriet.” Jennifer wiggles her toes that much closer to Anissa, just to see the scrunch of her sister’s nose. “They’re on the pillow.”

Anissa snatches at the corner of it. “Yeah, my pillow. Go grab one of yours.” She tugs again, but Jennifer weighs it down. Leave it to the baby of the family to claim everything in sight.

Except, Jennifer’s usual smugness seems caught up under her cheeks. Maybe it’s the lighting in Anissa’s room, or the fact that no amount of face wash can wipe off the instant stress of the night they’ve had. Jennifer eyes the bedroom door like Will himself is gonna right on into it and get to them again. Their dad’s downstairs, of course, but he’d been right down the hall when Will came in the first time. Second time too.

Jennifer pushes up a laugh and furrows deeper into Anissa’s bed. “You ain’t gon’ do nothing. You didn’t even say anything about Harriet.”

Jennifer keeps hiding from her emotions. A joke won’t fix the shit they’re in, and none of it’s Jennifer’s fault either. Sure, she shouldn’t have snuck out and met that boy in the first place, but everything else is on him.

Though, if Anissa tried saying all that, Jennifer would just nod and groan and start calling her something other than Harriet. So, Anissa kicks at Jennifer’s arm and says, “Don’t call me that.”

Jennifer grins for real. “What about Rose?”

“From  _Titanic_?” That only makes Jennifer smile wider. Anissa sees white she rolls her eyes so hard. “ _Underground_  Rose?”

Jennifer laughs. “Noah!” The laugh settles her a bit. Breaks some of the spell of the night. She even props herself up on the bed. “He was fine though.”

So was Rose. 

"Are you fine?”

Jennifer groans. “Can we not?”

“Why can’t we? Tonight was...” guns in their faces, clear orders to kill them before they became more of a problem. Honestly, if Black Lightning hadn’t shown up, they could be dead right now, not sitting here talking at home. “I never wanna feel like that ever again. And I’m not okay.” Her veins practically catch fire under her skin.

That same fire’s in her sister’s eyes. It pulses for a beat before Jennifer says, “But we  _are_  okay. That guy, he--he saved us.”

“Black Lightning.”

Jennifer throws her head into a nod. “Yeah. And was it just me or-- I mean, he kinda....”

“Kinda?” If she was gonna call Black Lightning fine, they needed to have a serious conversation about hero worship.

“I don’t know.” A shrug punctuates that sentence. Jennifer’s brows furrow deep enough that her whole face crinkles. “Something about him. It was kind of... familiar, right?”

For a second, he did kind of look like their dad. But it was bright and dark at the same time because of the lightning bouncing off of him. Plus, they wanted to see their dad. He’s always been the one there to bail them out of bad parties and student loan debt.

It’s probably nothing. So, Anissa jokes, “Now all black men look alike?”

Jennifer punches at Anissa’s leg. “I’m serious.”

“Me too.” Anissa sighs. “Dude’s been in retirement for years now. No telling who he is, or if it’s the same guy as before, or any of that. There’s no use trying to get involved either.”

“But he saved us.”

“That’s what heroes do, Jen. I don’t think it has anything to do with us, though.” It couldn’t. Their dad’s a principal, not a superhero. Or a vigilante. Or whatever that was. “Besides, Dad stopped caring about the community a long time ago.”

Anissa rolls over after that so her back’s to Jennifer. She still hears her sister, though, loud and clear even if it’s buried in a yawn.

“I just said familiar.” Jennifer yawns again. “You’re the one said Dad.”

.

.


End file.
